???
Can someone tell me what on earth this means?
Have I already asked this before?
And it keeps rolling on…
A group of us had gone out west of the city to a place called the Alamo Draft House on Sunday. It’s the dinner AND movie sort of place. It’s a good concept when it works and since we weren’t really interested in the movie anyway we figured it would be a good combo. We’ve been there several times and never had any sort of problem. Until Sunday that is.
After buying tickets for Lauren and I we went into the lobby and waited for our other friends to follow. After a minute we realized Sherzan wasn’t with us. So we went back outside. Apparently they had carded him and he didn’t have his drivers license on him. He did have a student ID but it didn’t have his birthday on it. So, after not getting a strait answer from the ticket counter as to WHY they weren’t selling him a ticket we asked for the manager. When he come out he seems annoyed and very non-helpful. He said, as bluntly as possible, “We’re a bar, if he doesn’t have an ID we can’t let him in.” At this point I got really pissed. This wasn’t a bar, its a movie theater that happens to have beer on it’s menu. I spoke up and asked that since he wasn’t drinking could I buy his ticket. That didn’t go over well either. After going back and forth with the manager for a few minutes I finally said “fine, then we’re all returning our tickets, you just lost $60.” I couldn’t really believe it. First, we were going to see AvP, which is PG13, which shouldn’t require an ID anyway. Second, plenty of places that are considered “bars” don’t card unless you order something with alcohol in it. Applebee’s for example. The full name of that restaurant is “Applebee’s BAR and Grill”. Do they card you at the door? No. So, then I thought that maybe the state is making them uphold rules for a 21+ club or something. But wait, there’s no on at the door checking IDs. Also, they let children in by the score, and children don’t have IDs. So, they’re not a “club” and don’t have an age limit and their not a bar and apparently their not much of a movie theater either. I guess they’re making up their own rules or something. What if I wanted to take my imaginary 12 year old brother to see a kids movie? Would they card my brother? No of course not. They can’t have it both ways. They can’t be a “bar” and not let people in but yet let people in and be a “theater”. They have to pick one. Or, I guess they don’t. They can be ass-holes all they want and they just won’t get my money. Ever again. And you know what, I’ve never been carded there before. Never.
So, instead, we went 10 minutes down the road, had some tasty Mexican food instead and then went to the other nearby theater and used our student IDs to get in for $5. So there, suck that Alamo Draft House.
Monday was less eventful. Lauren and I watched the original Manchurian Candidate and The Apartment. I was supposed to play in a match last night as well but I was put on Stand-By/Reserve so I didn’t end up having to.
Oh, and a big thank you to Jason for mentioning the Streetlight Manifesto album a little while back. It’s fantastic.
phpBB and you…
Before I get to my trip I wanted to run an idea by you guys… what would you think about me adding a stripped down version of phpBB instead of using MTs comment system. I think the customization options would be very usable, I could have admin control and maintain a user-base without upgrading to MT3.0 and you guys could have more control over your posts (in terms of avatars, text options, that sort of thing). It’s a super simple installation and I could probably be up and running over a weekend. I would still use MT for posting but have a link to a forum thread below the post for comments. So… whatcha think?
Now, on to the meat and potatoes. Lauren and I will be coming in at about 10pm on Thursday the 30th. Obviously I’ll be a bit tired and will probably just go right to bed. The next 4 days are up for grabs. I’d obviously like to visit both Chip and Chris, my grandparents, Newbury Comics, the New Balance outlet, the North End and Polly Pancake Parlor. Anyone up for any of those excursions is obviously welcome. Since my folks have moved a bit north it’ll probably be easier to mill-around in Manchester or Concord. I also probably won’t have a car. I haven’t decided about renting one yet but more than likely I won’t. Also, any requests for Texas-ish things should be mentioned in the near future and I’ll do my best to bring’em to you guys. I don’t think a WhataBurger will make it though. Sorry. Also, if you guys can think up anything else that might be cool to do, please, by all means, let me know. We’ll be flying out Tuesday afternoon. I wish it wasn’t such a short visit but it’s the best I could manage. I can’t wait to be back home and visit you guys. It’ll be good to see hills and mountains 😉
Ok. At work, gotta run.
Prepare
Get ready boys and girls. MATTS COMIN’ HOME.
Yours truly will descend upon New England on the 1st of October. Clear your calendars folks.
More later. I promise.
I think I’ve found my loop hole…
You see folks, this isn’t Matt’s first rodeo. I’ve beaten a traffic ticket before. And this time it shouldn’t be that hard.
Let me set the scene: A well traveled (meaning medium to heavy traffic) urban street with multitudes of hills. The speed limit is 35mph. As I crested a bridge (large hill) there was a speed trap (cop standing outside his car with radar in hand) immediately at the bottom of the hill. He “clocked me” going 45 in that 35.
Here’s the catch. The hill, while tall, is significantly short, probably no more than 500ft per slope/side. By LAW, in the state of Texas, police officers are required to a) make a visual assessment (guess your speed) before using their radar AND b) be able to provide a stable “radar lock” or between 3 and 5 seconds as a “backup” for their visual assessment. Now, physics tell us that at 1mph a car will travel 1.47 feet a second. At the 45mph I was allegedly traveling I would have traveled 200-330ft before the office would have legal been able to provide a radar lock. Note, this also doesn’t take into account the second or two it would take the officer to see me, select his target and “paint it”. We’re up to about 400ft now. Remember I said that the bridge was no more than 500ft. Yeah, he was at the bottom of it. So, in 100ft, at 45mph, the officer was able to put down the radar, signal me to pull over AND I had the room left to actually stop in time. Remember our math equation… 100ft is about a second and a half. I don’t think so.
Here’s what really happened. The officer never made a visual (with his eyes) assessment of my speed, which he’s required to do. He was also already looking through the radar (illegal) and he painted me as soon as I crested the hill. If he had done all this by the book I would have been with 100ft of his car before even beginning to stop.
I should also mention that, since the hill is rather steep, the reading is probably BS anyway. 99% of radar doesn’t work accurately at anything greater than 25 degrees. Going down that particular hill, it probably was about 25 degrees. It’s quite steep.
I feel more confident about that part of my ticket. That speed was bogus. He was just guessing.
Now for the other fun part. Here in Texas, there’s a state law banning license plate covers. The law, designed to battle those ricer-kids who have the metallic/blurry plastic license plate covers since they would defeat photo-speed-detection devices like those at toll-booths. The law was not meant to ban license plate holders, like the kind that EVERY car dealership puts on your car. I happen to have one. It neither covers, obscures or interferes with my license plate. It’s a border around my plate. This one is going to be hard. The law is VERY vague. The crappy part is that this particular offense is $200. Pathetic. I’m still working on a way to get past this one.
I hate to stereotype, but the county is just out for money on that plate law. It’s complete crap. I’m not even sure of its legality.
Anyway, my court date is the 21st. I’m going to see how the judge is feeling that day, if he’s letting people go or handing out probations left and right, and see how to play it.
I hate court.
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